Patent Application
20090265487
The present invention relates generally to computer systems and more particularly to synchronization indicator enabled sharing.
Desktop sharing and application sharing are frequently used functionalities in online meetings. Because of the complexity of network environments, each participant of an online meeting may have different network connection speeds. The presenter in an online meeting commonly experiences difficulty in confirming whether or not the screen content that other participants are viewing is synchronized with what he/she is viewing or presenting. Often times, the presenter has to confirm with other participants, using voice or chat, whether all participants are synchronized with the material being presented. The latency associated with the manual confirmation and synchronization negatively impacts the effectiveness of online presentations.
A method and system for synchronization indicator enabled online meetings are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer implemented method comprises transmitting a screen change signal from a presenter system, the screen change signal indicating a change in presentation material. One or more synchronization signals are received at the presenter system, the one or more synchronization signals indicating current viewing status of one or more participant systems. The current viewing status of the one or more participant systems is updated based on the one or more synchronization signals.
The accompanying drawings, which are included as part of the present specification, illustrate the presently preferred embodiment and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment given below serve to explain and teach the principles of the present invention.
A method and system for synchronization indicator enabled online meetings are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer implemented method comprises transmitting a screen change signal from a presenter system, the screen change signal indicating a change in presentation material. One or more synchronization signals are received at the presenter system, the one or more synchronization signals indicating current viewing status of one or more participant systems. The current viewing status of the one or more participant systems is updated based on the one or more synchronization signals.
A synchronization indicator for desktop sharing and application sharing can be used in online collaboration systems to indicate whether or not all participants are synchronized with the meeting's presenter who is sharing a desktop or application. To be more specific, a synchronization indicator indicates whether or not screen changes on the presenter's system are synchronized with the participants' screens. Screen changes include a computer mouse click, text input, page scrolling, and all other events that change the content of the current computer screen. Once participants are synchronized, the synchronization indicator signal can be sent to and displayed on the meeting software user interface and/or to hardware equipment (e.g. an indicator on handheld equipment).
A synchronization indicator for online sharing allows a presenter to see the synchronization status of all participants in real time, and in some embodiments the participants see the synchronization status of all participants as well. The presenter can adjust his/her speech and/or action speed based on the real time synchronization status information. According to one embodiment, a synchronization indicator notifies a presenter immediately after all participants have seen the latest displayed material shared by the presenter. As a result, the presenter can decide when to begin discussing material or move on.
A synchronization indicator can be used in application and desktop sharing sessions in all kinds of network meeting systems, including but not limited to software meeting systems, hardware meeting equipment, and video conference systems. A synchronization indicator can be implemented on all network architectures and topologies.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the various inventive concepts disclosed herein. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in order to practice the various inventive concepts disclosed herein.
Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. A method is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent process leading to a desired result. The process involves physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.
It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
The present method and system also relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (“ROMs”), random access memories (“RAMs”), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.
The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.
A list of participants 300 is accompanied by synchronization indicators 304. An attendees 301, who can be the attendee viewing the current display, is associated with an indicator status 305. An attendee2302 is associated with an indicator status 306. An attendee3303 is associated with an indicator status 307. Each indicator status (305, 306, 307) can be the same or different at any one time, and can vary based upon any level of latency. For example, an indicator status may be a green dot indicating the participant is experiencing no latency or has recovered from any latency and is viewing the presently displayed material. An indicator status may be a red dot indicating the participant is experiencing a significant amount of latency and is far behind in viewing the displayed material. An indicator status may be a yellow dot indicating the participant is experiencing mild to moderate latency and is only one or two pages behind the presently displayed material. Other embodiments allow for configuration of indicator status displays and the defining of tiered latency. In another embodiment there are only two status indicator displays, corresponding to a “yes” or “no” system where the status is “yes” if a participant is synchronized with the displayed presentation materials and “no” otherwise.
A data storage device 727 such as a magnetic disk or optical disc and its corresponding drive may also be coupled to computer system 700 for storing information and instructions. Architecture 700 can also be coupled to a second I/O bus 750 via an I/O interface 730. A plurality of I/O devices may be coupled to I/O bus 750, including a display device 743, an input device (e.g., an alphanumeric input device 742 and/or a cursor control device 741).
The communication device 740 allows for access to other computers (servers or clients) via a network. The communication device 740 may comprise one or more modems, network interface cards, wireless network interfaces or other well known interface devices, such as those used for coupling to Ethernet, token ring, or other types of networks.
The system and method disclosed have been described, as an example, as being implemented in an online meeting environment. However, the present system and method can be implemented in any sharing environment with similar properties.
A method and system for synchronization indicator enabled sharing are disclosed. It is understood that the embodiments described herein are for the purpose of elucidation and should not be considered limiting the subject matter of the present embodiments. Various modifications, uses, substitutions, recombinations, improvements, methods of productions without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention would be evident to a person skilled in the art.
The present application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/045,543 entitled “Sync Indicator for Desktop Sharing and Application Sharing” filed on Apr. 16, 2008, and is hereby, incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61045543 | Apr 2008 | US |
